Spell devices
Spell devices are objects upon which spells have been cast, in order to imbue them with specific magical properties. (The casting of such spells is called "enchantment," a type of spell first created in 399 by Judy.) These spell devices may then be used by anyone, magician and non-magician alike. However, as with any spell, the mana used in enchantment dissipates with use, and must periodically be recharged by Sorreters or other magicians. (Recharging is required more frequently for spell devices that use large amounts of mana, such as flying vehicles.) Generally speaking, any market that sells a specific kind of spell device will also have at least one magician on hand to perform recharges (for a fee), though recharges on flying vehicles are more commonly performed at garages than markets. Animated object This is the first type of spell device ever created, by Judy in 399. The spell brings inanimate objects to "life" for a brief period. The first animation spell was cast on clay dolls, which would dance around for a few centhours before the spell wore off. Over the years other objects have been animated in other ways, though they of course do not truly become "alive," nor do they have minds of their own. The original animation spell served as a basis for more complex spells which were later developed, such as flying. Aquachair Developed in 916 by Manat Ericson. Aquachairs were inspired by flying recliners (see below). They are specially designed water tanks which have been enchanted to hover and maneuver on (or technically above) land. Speed can be adjusted by the user, normally within a range comparable to that of humans, from a casual stroll to a full-speed sprint. The chairs normally land when movement is not expected for some time. The distance chairs hover above ground can be adjusted, normally from a few inches to a few yards, though some chairs have been specially modified with limits of both height and speed no different from those of flying carpets. Aquapaper and aquastylus These are two separate items developed in LY 883 by Manat Ericson, to be used together for writing underwater. (The aquastylus is commonly referred to simply as a stylus, especially when mentioning both items together- aquapaper and stylus- as it can be assumed by context that the latter item is an aquastylus. Of course, context isn't entirely necessary, considering styluses aren't generally used in any other form, anyway.) While these spell devices are used primarily by merfolk, they also may be used by humans or elves who may have dealings with merfolk, such as exchanging letters, signing contracts, or since the introduction of banks, making payments by check. Aquapaper looks and feels exactly like regular paper, making it convenient to use on dry land. It can be marked upon by ordinary pens, though this is generally avoided because aquapaper is more expensive than regular paper, and shouldn't be used for any purposes where regular paper will suffice. Beacon This is any inanimate object which has been imbued with the ability to recognize molecular patterns, and thereby attract any such patterns which are in transit via translocation and reform the pattern into its solid state. This device was first created in 790 by Nyza, as a means to allow magic users to translocate themselves rather than merely translocating inanimate objects. In 845, Coman developed a method of using force fields as permanent barriers preventing physical and magical attacks of a particular location, as well as preventing translocation into any place covered by such a force field. In conjunction with this spell, he developed a kind of "key code" with which a beacon could be imbued to allow a trusted Sorreter to translocate in and out of such guarded locations. Bubbles A common medium (developed LY 400 by Koichi) for spell devices of various types, including but not limited to: *'camera': A device developed in LY 912 by Noson Turner, which is said to have been inspired by an idea from Tulo Streetrat. Much like the recording bubbles which had been in use for centuries, but these could record still images instead of video or audio. The cameras can then be given to printers to produce copies of the pictures taken by the camera, in a permanent, paper-like format. *'flash bubble': An illumination device (developed in LY 405) which produces a similar effect to the illumination spells (used without devices) that had first come into use by Sorreters in 272. *'recording bubble': A device used to record and play back audio and/or video (developed in LY 402 by Koichi). *'scrying bubble': A device used to display a visual representation of some remote location (developed in LY 400 by Koichi). *'t-mail': A communications device (developed LY 750 by Tannic) Enchanted lock and key Sometimes confused with a lock spell, the enchanted lock was first developed in LY 415, by a master-adept named Harold. These spell devices are enchanted by casting a spell upon a mechanical lock which has been specially designed to work with this type of enchantment. If one tries to open the lock either with an unenchanted key or lock-picking tools, the spell which has been cast upon the lock causes the internal mechanism of the lock to continuously rearrange itself, making it virtually impossible to unlock. At the time that such a lock is enchanted, a matching enchantment is cast upon the key which has been designed to fit the lock; the enchantment of the lock recognizes the enchantment of the key, and so the mechanism remains in its original configuration, thus allowing the key to unlock it. It should be noted that it is not entirely unheard of for a master lock picker or locksmith to beat an enchanted lock without the use of magic, though the odds of success are estimated to be less than one percent. However, sometime after the creation of anti-spells by Rasche in 432, other Sorreters developed lock-pick spells to counter the effects of enchanted locks. Such spells, depending upon the complexity of the lock's enchantment and the skill of the caster trying to pick it, can raise the odds of breaking the lock to between 10 and 90%. Unlike many spell devices, the spell which powers an enchanted lock & key often requires a Sorreter to come to the lock, rather than the device's owner bring the device to a Sorreter to be recharged. These devices are therefore usually only used by Sorreters themselves, or by wealthy individuals or clans, or by businesses or organizations (such as gangs, military, or governmental offices) which may have Sorreters in their direct employ. Enchanted mirror A medium for scrying, first used around 500. It uses the same type of enchantment as scrying bubbles. After the Coming of the Order, InterVil began instituting the use of such mirrors in all of the Land's police departments, for observers in one room to watch the interrogation of suspects in another room, as well as for witnesses to pick suspects out of a line-up without being seen by the suspects. Energy converter A device created sometime during the Coming of the Order, which can be attached to a mechanical device which produces physical power, and converts that power into neutral mana (similar to that used in a mana battery). That mana can then be distributed into an existing spell, to keep it going. The specific mana utilized by the spell mixes with the neutral mana from the energy converter, and causes it to convert to the specific type. However, this only works if the spell being automatically recharged by the energy converter has not already completely run out of specific mana; a converter cannot reactivate a spell which has completely faded. Flying Another common spell device is vehicles which have been imbued with the power of flight. (Top speed is about 80 miles per hour.) This type of enchantment was first used by Red in 542. Flying vehicles are typically also enchanted with force fields to protect passengers from wind at high speeds, as well as things like bugs and birds, and to prevent people from falling off or out of the vehicle. Flying devices may include various normally land-based vehicles, as well as objects which normally are not considered vehicles at all, including but not limited to: *aquachairs *carpets *carriages *leopcoats (the only living spell device, actually an animal which has been enchanted) *recliners *wagons It's important to note that there are actually two similar types of enchantment (one spell for levitation and one for locomotion) which work in conjunction to achieve flight. Such combination spells must be precisely calculated by teams of Sorreters and engineers or mechanics, to ensure that the structural integrity of the vehicle isn't compromised by being forced to move in a way it wasn't originally designed for. Because of the way the two spells interact to preserve integrity while the flying enchantment is active, it would be impossible to activate just one of the two spells for more than a few seconds at a time, without upsetting the delicate balance. For this reason, if one wishes to travel over land in a carriage or wagon which has been enchanted to fly, the flying spell must be fully deactivated when the vehicle lands, and teams of striders or oxen must then be hitched to the vehicle in the normal fashion, so that they might draw it. (Note that there is a new type of spell device, the internal enchantment engine- see lower this page- which can propel a vehicle over land without being drawn by draft animals, but the spell used to enchant these engines cannot be used in conjunction with traditional flying spells.) Glamour Glamours were initially a standard spell, created in LY 430 by Rasche. However, sometime around 900, an unknown Sorreter (some have suggested it may have been Mordechai T'Magus) developed a spell to enchant masks, which could make the wearer's face virtually unrecognizable, unless someone very familiar with their face closely scrutinized it. (That is to say, it altered their appearance; anyone who became familiar with the face that was displayed while the glamour was being worn would come to recognize that false face just as one would come to recognize a real face.) These glamour masks remain very rare and very expensive. Internal enchantment engine A newer type of spell device (developed in LY 911 by Cirna Mastera) to power vehicles which travel on land, such as wagons and carriages, so that striders are not necessary to pull the vehicles. Also, the magic within such engines doesn't need to be recharged nearly as often as the magic which powers flying vehicles. Magic microphones A device invented in LY 911, for the amplification of sounds, most commonly voices (either singing or speaking). Majitar A kind of musical instrument invented in LY 895 by Guy Artisan. Mana battery Developed in 842 by Coman, this utilizes a spell which can imbue any object with "neutral mana." Most spells require specific mixtures of different types of chakra to be put to different purposes by the caster. However, neutral mana has no practical application of its own, but when stored in a mana battery, can later be absorbed by a caster, almost instantly broken down into its component chakras, and quickly remixed by the caster into specific manas for whatever purpose he or she desires. This allows the caster to perform complex spells which may require more chakra than their bodies can naturally produce in a short amount of time, as well as allowing them to perform simpler spells for a longer duration or with quicker repetition by artificially enhancing their magical stamina. (It should be noted that unlike most spell devices, which can be used by anyone, mana batteries can only be used by magic-users.) Null-distortion map Developed in 871 by Rhys, while he was taking part in a cartographic expedition. The creation of the device was inspired by a cartographer named Maxwell, who complained that any projection map (as opposed to a globe) must distort one or more properties (such as area, shape, direction, or distance), which leads to inconsistency in the map's scale. Once the basic reasons for this had been explained to Rhys, he realized the only way to effectively eliminate this problem would be to use magic. So, with Maxwell's help, he designed a type of magical map and accompanying magical "universal preservation rule," which used in conjunction would allow the map to accurately display size and shape of landmasses, while the rule would account for the planet's curvature to accurately display direction and distance from any point on the map to any other. (Author's note: I drew a map of the Land long before I had any notion of how complicated cartography actually is, and I always just used a regular ruler- or rather a sort of bar scale drawn on a piece of note paper- to measure distances between any two points. When I realized how wrong that was, I tried to figure out if there was any sort of map that would allow that to work. And it didn't seem that there was. Which annoyed the crap out of me, so I just decided to say there are magical maps on the Land that preserve all properties, and pretend my scale is one of them magical rules. I'm a fantasy writer, and that's how I roll. Deal with it.) Odometer A device used for measuring distance traveled, first created by Judy in 402. Magical odometers may be attached to vehicles such as wagons or ships, and there are also pocket odometers, which can measure distance walked as well as distance traveled by a passenger in a vehicle, whether or not the vehicle itself has an odometer. Qutn candy maker A device created by Errol in 825, which spins and heats sugar to create a fluffy confection called "qutn candy," so named because of its resemblance to rainbow qutn. Food coloring may be added to make different colors of qutn candy, which increases its resemblance to rainbow qutn. Various flavorings may also be added, though the candy most often uses sugar as the sole flavor ingredient. Refrigerator First created by Errol in 822, this enchantment utilized the thermal regulation spell he had developed two years earlier. Refrigerators were soon used by many Sorretians for keeping food cool (or frozen), replacing earlier methods of refrigeration. The devices have also been used in the production of various products such as alcohol and ice cream, and have also been redesigned to serve as "air conditioning" to make homes cooler during the hottest times of year. Since the Coming of the Order, refrigerators have become common in all villages of the Land. Scrying glasses First enchanted in 543 by Mor, to be used as a tool for micro-scrying. However, these glasses can also be used as a medium for ordinary scrying, and some have used them to, in essence, look through solid objects such as walls. This could be done using any scrying medium, and in fact sometimes has been, for example by police to view interrogation subjects in another room, via an enchanted mirror. However, there is no record of it having ever occurred to anyone to scry such a nearby location, prior to the creation of scrying glasses. Scubsuit First created in 815, based on the scubspell developed in 808 by Nyza, this is a latex wetsuit which may be worn by anyone, including non-Sorreters. The suit generates a scubspell bubble around the diver's head, instead of the whole body, to allow breathing underwater. Timepiece A less common type of spell device, which magically keeps track of time. There are, of course, strictly mechanical clocks, but they tend to be too large to carry around. So, magical timepieces are made smaller, and generally worn on the wrist. However, as of yet, not a lot of people own them. (There are also mechanical pocket watches, invented by a clockmaker named Amos, though these are even more uncommon than magical timepieces.) Category:Items Category:Magic Typewriter A spell device which was developed toward the end of LY 913, as a component of home-PA bubbles. Its invention is credited to Edison Marmalade, though there is some speculation that they were actually invented by his former master, Ford Inspector. Typewriters are based on an old Terran technology, though the magical form taken on the Land is more similar to much later flexible keyboards, which were used with computers. Typewriters on the Land were an integral part of the development of the Sylph Swarm. Though originally designed for home use, they can also be rolled up and taken virtually anywhere, and hooked up to t-mail bubbles. They are also commonly used by writers, as a replacement for pen and paper; works written on typewriters may then be transmitted to printers for publication. Wind generator Developed in LY 901 by Cirna Mastera, to give the Navy an advantage over the anticipated dissent during the Coming of the Order. This device is used to give sailors enhanced control of ships, and to allow ships to reach their full potential hull speed, even when natural conditions are relatively calm. (The magical wind created by such devices must be taken into account when calculating apparent wind.) While traditional sailing methods such as tacking and reaching are still the preferred methods of sailing against the wind, wind generators may occasionally be used to aid in achieving the desired direction of travel. When traveling downwind, wind generators may even help ships exceed hull speed (though not more than double it). However, this may require considerations of hull, rig, and sail integrity, so wind generators are never used unless a ship's crew has been thoroughly trained in handling the increased speed safely. Wind generators remained exclusively in the possession of Second Order's Navy until 912, shortly before the Chaos War, when one was provided to what would later become the Chaos Navy, by Theda Bow. See also Watercraft classification See also *List of spells Category:Items Category:Magic